


I’ll Be True to My Love if They’ll Be True to Me

by the_interuniversal_geometer



Series: Child Ballads [1]
Category: The Twa Sisters (Ballad), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Ballad 10: The Twa Sisters, Dark, Drowning, F/M, Folk Music, Folklore, Jealousy, M/M, Murder, courting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25698652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_interuniversal_geometer/pseuds/the_interuniversal_geometer
Summary: Jaskier and his sister Juliana are both being courted by Geralt, though Juliana grows jealous of the affection Geralt gives to Jaskier and not to her.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Child Ballads [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863616
Kudos: 11





	I’ll Be True to My Love if They’ll Be True to Me

**Author's Note:**

> In my notes this fic was called "Twa Sisters 2: Electric Boogaloo" as it's technically the second fic I've written based on that ballad, though the other one isn't finished quite yet! The end note explains the specific variants of the ballad that this fic is drawing from, as there are many different versions. I'd recommend holding off on reading that until you finish the fic as it will spoil the ending, at least somewhat. Thanks to Blue for betaing this story!

In the town of Lettenhove, along the river Adelette, there lived a small family. There was Breysia, the mother, who had two children, Juliana and Jaskier. Their father was a merchant and he was oft at sea for months at a time, though he would return by boat, traveling along the Adelette.

There was also a miller, Geralt, who lived along the Adelette with his daughter, Ciri. Geralt was courting Jaskier and Juliana both, for while he was expected to court the eldest daughter, he was in love with her younger brother.

He courted Juliana with gold rings and silk gowns, but he courted Jaskier with all his heart. They would often be found talking together, and when Juliana saw them kissing one warm summer’s eve, her heart grew cold.

She waited until it was the day of their father’s returning to ask Jaskier to take a walk with her. “Come, Jaskier,” Juliana said. “Let us go walk by the dams of the Adelette, that we may see our father returning home.”

“Let us go, Juliana,” Jaskier said with a grin, offering his arm to her. She wrapped her hand ‘round his forearm and off they went to watch the boats coming in. As they walked upon the stone shore, they talked and listened to the blackbirds crooning their songs. The two of them stopped upon a stone by the edge of the water, where Juliana unwound her hand from Jaskier's arm and pointed somewhere far upriver.

“Do you think that’s our father’s ship?” she asked Jaskier.

“From here, it’s hard to tell,” said Jaskier, shielding his eyes from the bright sun and looking hard at the far away ships. “I’m unsure if that’s his merchant vessel,” he told her, still looking into the distance, but Juliana didn’t answer him.

Instead, she reeled back and shoved Jaskier into the murky waters of the Adelette. He fell in with a large splash, choking down water as he did, before spluttering to the surface.

“Please,” Jaskier called as he struggled to stay afloat in the turbulent waters. “Please give me your hand, Juliana!” But Juliana did not reach out her hand. “I’ll give you gold, land, I’ll give you the heart of Geralt, who we both love so dearly, please save me!” he called again, breathing in the briny water as he flailed.

“I won’t reach out my hand, dear brother,” she said, a smirk playing upon her lips. “Not for gold, not for land, nor even for the heart of dear, sweet Geralt would I reach out my hand. You’ve always been favored by all you meet, more beautiful too, and it was for this that I pushed you in.” The last sight Jaskier ever saw was his sister’s back as she turned away, and the last sound he heard as he choked down water in great gasps was his sister’s laugh, soft and sweet. 

His body floated down the Adelette until it came to rest in by a miller’s dam. The miller’s daughter, Ciri, was outside, getting water to wash her father's hands, when she saw something in the water.

“Father,” Ciri cried, “come and empty the dam, for there’s either a man floating or a swan swimming there.” Her father, Geralt, came outside and saw the shape floating in the water, as Ciri had said. He fetched a net and reeled the form in, seeing that it was indeed a man’s body that had been caught by the dam.

“Do you know who it could be?” Ciri asked him as Geralt gently turned the man over, so he could see his face.

“I—” Geralt's face went white as bone. “It’s my dear, my own Jaskier,” he said, voice broken. He knelt down and closed Jaskier’s eyes. “When I find out who has done this,” he said softly, tears spilling from his eyes and onto Jaskier’s still form, “they’ll wish they never stepped foot in Lettenhove.”

“Ciri, wait here whilst I tell Jaskier’s poor mother of his fate,” he told her.

When Geralt told Jaskier's mother what happened she began weeping, crying out for her son. When her mother told her what had happened to Jaskier, Juliana couldn’t hide her brief look of satisfaction from Geralt’s sharp gaze. 

He turned to her and asked, “What did you do?”

“He fell into the water when we were out walking,” she said, “and I couldn’t save him.”

“Is that what truly happened?” Geralt asked.

“He may have had some help,” Juliana said with a gleam in her eyes.

“Juliana, you didn’t!” her mother cried, covering her mouth in horror. “He’s your own dear brother!”

“He _was_ my own dear brother,” Juliana said with satisfaction.

“I’ll see you hanged this very day,” Geralt swore, “from the cliffs of Kerack, overlooking the Adelette where you drowned Jaskier,” and he did.

It was a grand affair, Jaskier having been well loved by all who met him. Juliana walked to the edge of the cliffs, noose around her neck and head held high. She glanced back, looking Geralt in the eyes with a smile on her lips, before looking over the river at the ships coming in and stepping easily over the edge

That very night, their father arrived in Lettenhove to a crying wife and two dead children, one hanged on the cliffs of Kerack and the other drowned in the Adelette.

**Author's Note:**

> This story pulls both its title and contents from specific versions of the Twa Sisters ballad, specifically the variants called “Binnorie” and “Minorie”. In these versions of the ballad, two sisters are being courted by the same man, either the miller or the miller’s son. The miller or his son ends up courting them both unequally, giving gifts and promises to the elder sister while truly loving the younger sister. One day, the elder sister invites the younger to take a walk by the dams of Binnorie/Minorie and while they're stood at the edge of the water the elder pushes the younger in. The younger calls out to the elder, promising gold, land, and the favor of the man they both love, but the elder refuses, citing how she’s always been jealous of the younger. The younger sister drowns and her body comes to rest at the miller’s dam. The miller or his son then sees something floating in the water and wonders if it’s a person or a swan. When he pulls her out he realizes that it was his own true love who had drowned.
> 
> I’d recommend [Rory and Alex McEwen’s “Binnorie”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d3B2BMO5GMg) and [Ewan MacColl’s “Minorie”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl45-TSEYwY) if you want an idea of how this variant of the ballad is sung.


End file.
